Cap for receptacles



Oct. 9, 1934. .J, A. HEY I 1,975,790

CAP FOR RECEPTACLES Filed Dec. 17. 1931 Patented Get. 9, 1934 975,790" I j. oar son nEoErrrAoLEs;

JoscphA. Hey, Decatur, IllL, .a ss i'gnor to Williams Sealing Corporation, Decatun'lll' 'a corporation y of Illinois Awfimfim December 1, Serial No. 581,682.

This invention relates to-caps for containers suchas bottles; jugs, and receptacles which are provided with necks and/ or nozzles. More particularly, it relates to the means for locking upon the necks or nozzles of such receptacles acap having a skirt provided at its bottom with upwardly extending slots, with a divided clamping wire ring mounted in a discontinuous annular seat formed by rolling upwardly the bottoms of the tongues formed between the slots, the ring having oppositely disposed hooks at its ends.

It has been the practice to employ with such rings alocking lever consisting of a wire so formed as to have at one end a pair of cam loops each engaging a hook of the ring and adapted, by its downward movement, to draw the hooks toward each other, thereby to contract the ring and clamp the bottom of the skirt into locking engagement with the top of the neck or nozzle of a container. As constructed heretofore, the operating handle of the lever has been formed by twisting together, below the loops, the ends of the wire of which the lever is formed, the lower ends of the wire being in contact and parallel with each other and providing an operating end for engagement by the finger of the operator. It is the object of the present invention so to form the handle portion of the lever as to provide a more effective and smoother grip for the fingers of the operator and to eliminate the sharp corners which have been provided heretofore at the ends of the parallel wires constituting the lower or operating end of the lever.

I accomplish the foregoing object and other and more limited objects which will appear hereinafter in and through the construction and arrangement of the parts shown in the drawing forming part hereof wherein Fig. 1 represents a perspective view of the top of a bottle having a cap applied thereto to which there is applied a lever constructed in accordance with my in-- vention; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the lever and Fig. 3 a side elevation thereof.

Describing the various parts by reference characters, 1 denotes the neck of a bottle having ap plied thereto a cap 2 which is provided with a skirt 3 having slots 4 extending upwardly from the bottom thereof, the metal between the slots being rolled upwardly to form sleeves, as shown at 5 and 5 thereby providing a discontinuous annular seat 4 for a clamping wire 6. The ends of the wire are formed into hooks 7 which are located in a wide slot 4 having a bearing sleeve 8 at the top thereof for engagement with the cam loops of the leverthereby to retain the lever in locked position, as indicated in Fig; 1; 1

l The parts. thusfar described. 'aresuch as have been employed with the so-called Kork-N-Seal caps, as shown, for instance, in patent to Williams 1,214,734, issued February 6, 1917. The locking lever which is employed with the hooks 7 is indicated generally at 9 and consists of a wire having a central laterally extending portion 10 merging with cam loops 11, from which the wire branches 12 extend downwardly and are twisted together, as shown at 13, the lower portion of each wire branch being bent into approximately semicircular form, as shown at 14, with their ends abutting and forming a circular eye 15. The lower operating portion of the lever thus formed extends transversely of the lever, the axis of the eye being substantially in the direction of movement of the lever. After the lower ends of the wire branches are brought into contact at 16, they are preferably united at this point, as by subjecting them to the action of a press, whereby they will be maintained in contact.

By lifting the lower end of the lever, the cams operate in the usual manner to permit the wire 6 to expand, thereby allowing the cap to be removed. By pressing downwardly on the lever to the position shown in Fig. l, the cam loops operate upon the hooked ends of the wire 6 thereby to contract the bottom of the cap upon the neck of 85 the bottle or other receptacle in a manner usual with the locking levers heretofore in use.

It will be noted that the central laterally extending portion 10 forms a cross bar or brace between the loops 11, which holds these loops in proper operative relation to the hooks 7. Furthermore, as will appear clearly from Fig. 3, this central cross bar or bridge 10 engages the upper ends of the branches 12 and prevents them from untwisting, even where a single twist is given to such branches, with the result that the ends 14 of the wire which form the eye 15 are prevented from getting out of line.

Among the advantages of the lever shown and described herein are the following: (a) the formation of a smooth circular eye at the lower end of the lever, thereby obtaining a greatly improved finger grip over that with which pre-existing levers have been provided; (b) the ability to make the lever of the same length as the former lever m5 but with a single twist 13 of the branches 12 of the wire from which the lever is formed instead of with one and one-half twists which have beenemployed heretofore; (c) the security and stiffening of the single twist through closely abutting.

eye as well as through the engagement of the central cross bar or bridge with the upper portions of the branches 12.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is:

1. In a closure cap of the character described. havingra skirt portion and a divided ring having or hooked ends disposed adjacent each other, ex-

tending about said skirt portion, an operating lever formed from a single piecelof wire, and having a pair of cam loopsat one end operatively engaging the hooked ends of said ring, a cross bar the lower ends of the branches which form the cam loops engaging over the hooked ends of said ring, said lever having a laterally disposed central portion connecting said cam loops and a pair of branches extending downwardly from said loops, the ends of said branches abutting each other and forming an open eye having a smooth rounded lower .end.

3. A closure cap of the character described having a skirt portion, a divided ring extending about said skirt portion and having hooked ends disposed adjacent each other, a lever formed from a single piece of wire and having a pair of cam loops engaging over the hooked ends of said ring, said lever having a laterally disposed central portion connecting said cam loops and a pair of "branches extending downwardly from said loops, thenends of said branches abutting each other and formed into an open eye having a smooth rounded lower end, the axis of the eye being disposed substantially in the direction of movement of the lever. to

JOSEPH A. HEY.

Mil 

